I WILL RE-CAPTURE MY DREAM

Impossible is nothing.

Joe Moglia proved that when he was named head football coach of Coastal Carolina at
the age of 62. He had built TD Ameritrade into a multi-billion dollar company and then
walked away to re-capture his dream of being a college football coach. In three years
at Coastal Carolina, the the team has compiled a 20-8 record. Imagine that, somebody
took a chance on a man in his 60's who believed he had the formula to make a college
program successful.

At 50-years old, I'm looking to recapture my dream of being a sports anchor. I worked
in the business for 17 years, making stops at such places as Fox Sports Net, NESN, and
MLB.com. I had many great opportunities in the business including the beat covering
the New England Patriots on a daily basis.

Sportscasting is my passion. I took the same work ethic that earned me a baseball
scholarship to UNC and landed me a free-agent contract with the Boston Red Sox
organization, into the field of broadcasting. As those who worked with me can attest,
I'm creative and often think outside the box. I am also good at working under pressure.
Long before the Ice Bucket challenge became a phenomenon, I took a celebration
show with Evan Longoria and the Tampa Bay Rays.

That beer was cold enough to cause a serious brain freeze but I somehow managed to keep
my thoughts in-sync with my mouth. During my career in television I found ways to make
something out of nothing. While covering the Patriots, there were some dry days when the
players didn't feel much like talking so I did a piece about those bad haircuts the rookies get
in training camp.

I loved my job and was passionate about it not only every single day, but every single
show and feature I produced. I had the same all-out, all-the-time attitude whether I was
making $18,000 in Erie, Pa. or six figures for Fox Sports Net in Atlanta. I never considered
it a job, but a love. I vowed to never be outworked or outhustled. Sure, I got beat on a
story, but it wasn't for a lack of effort. You can't win them all, but you sure as heck can
be happy and love your job no matter where you are. Don't believe me? Check this out.

 

 

Ok, so I'm not a great dancer, but I do know sports and how to tell a story. Did you every

wonder what it's like to be Tom Brady? I told that story a few years ago while covering the

Patriots.

 

 

One more thing I bring to the table that may set me apart from other candidates, is that

I've been on the silver screen standing side-by-side with Kevin Costner before he gave me

the tip of lifetime. "Charlie, here comes the deuce, and when you speak of me, speak well."

 

 

 

I am an athlete through and through. I played baseball at UNC and in the Red Sox organization

before covering sports for the last  17 years. And I haven't stopped. I'm a triathlete who recently

completed the Ironman in Lake Placid.

 

 

I'm a lot like Joe Moglia: driven, passionate, hard-working, and driven. He recaptured his

dream. I fully intend to do the same. E-mail me pjdevlin27@gmail.com









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THE BEAUTY OF COACH MAC

A baseball man.

We heard that phrase pinned to Don Zimmer after he died in early June. Zimmer, a
long-time bench coach for Joe Torre, was in baseball for a long, long time. 65 years
to be exact. Zimmer was a player, coach, manager, and consultant for many
different teams during his marathon career in professional baseball.

Howard McCullough is a "baseball man" through and through. He might not have
reached the heights of Zimmer, but his impact on the game and the people in and
around it, is just as significant.

McCullough has been a scout in professional baseball for almost 30 years, but
his contribution to the game spans a lot longer than that. He was a catcher at
East Carolina before becoming a highly-respected pitching coach at UNC in the
early 1980's.

"Coach Mac", as he's still affectionately known as to those who played for him in
Chapel Hill, grew up and went to high school in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
However, if he told us that he was from Mayberry and was best friends with Opie,
we would've believed him, no questions asked. He was, as our scrap iron second
basemen Mike Jedziniak, liked to say, "a Southern dude."

Coach Mac was really mature for his age but he certainly didn't move like someone
who hadn't even reached 30-years old yet. If he went out to the mound to talk to one
of his pitchers on a Monday night, he wouldn't get back to the dugout until sometime
early Tuesday morning. When he paused to put a wad of Red Man tobacco in his
mouth, the entire team could shower, change, and head for the training table by
the time he was done.

But Mac was loved and respected by everyone who played for him. You could 
scout the country much like Coach  Mac does today, and you'll never find a person
who says one bad thing about him. Never.

The players on our team put the "North" in North Carolina baseball. All but a handful
of players on the team were from states far above the Mason-Dixon Line. New York,
New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts flooded the roster in the program and
most of the players came with  brash attitudes, with a lot of cockiness that bordered
on arrogance. We talked fast, weren't afraid of much, and acted like we had
everything figured. We didn't, but Mac surely did.

It seemed like he started every sentence with "I reckon" or "Well, shug" or "Son", the
last of which you really didn't want to hear because you knew that Mac knew that you
really screwed up. Everyone wanted to get things done in New York City minute, but
there was Mac taking his time, all slow and methodical. In a baseball program that was
pretty damn crazy at times, Mac was always the steady and calm force who could
extinguish any mutiny on the ship in a hurry. He gave great advice and treated all
the players the same, whether you were a top recruit or a walk-on just trying to get
out of their own way.

Coach Mac left the program far sooner than any of the players wanted him to. He
was one of the people that made the North Carolina baseball program so special and
great. Coach Mac is a salt-of-the-earth type of person who we all wanted to be around
not only for his baseball knowledge, but for all his stories. We were all kids from
the North who had never been around a guy like Mac who talked slow, moved
even slower, and told great stories with a unique southern accent.

After a long and hard days work in the blistering North Carolina sun, Mac would
always find time to play with his young son, a bundle of exuberance, a great head of
blonde hair, and an even better nickname. He was known as "Clayton the Ram". It was
never just Clayton, but "Clayton the Ram."

Mac went on to scout for the Boston Red Sox for 10 years and then to the Arizona
Diamonbacks where he's still employed today. He's been awarded several honors,
including Major League Baseball Scout of the Year. He's very talented, but I'm sure
he received the award in part because he is so well-liked and respected by everybody
in the game. And perhaps, a small part of the award went to him because all of his
great stories.

Legend has it that when Josh Hamilton was a phenom in North Carolina, McCullough
had been asked by his supervisors to track pretty much his every move leading up to
the draft. Coach Mac was scouting a game in which Hamilton got the start on the
mound. Hamilton was a man among boys, blessed with lightning in his left arm and
thunder in his bat.

Hamilton was scheduled to pitch the day Coach Mac was scouting him and his
advisers told him to call back to Phoenix with a report after every inning. In the
top of the first, Hamilton struck out the side and Coach Mac scurried to get out of
earshot of his fellow scouts and phoned his bosses. "This boy struck out the side.
His last three pitches were 93, 93, and 95 miles per hour." Mac then paused and
said he had to hurry back to his seat behind the backstop to see Hamilton, who
was hitting third in the line-up, hit.

Hamilton gets up and hits a 450-foot tape measure shot deep into the pine trees
over the right-field fence. Coach Mac rose quickly from his chair and called his
boss in Arizona before Hamilton touched home plate.

"Well, I think this kid is legit. He throws 95 miles an hour and just hit a bomb
over these dang pine trees in right field."

His bosses quickly asked Coach Mac which professional player Hamilton had
reminded him of.

"Well, I don't know," responded Coach Mac, "I've never seen anyone like him."

Bosses: "There has to be some player. Albert Pujols. Barry Bonds...who is he like?"

Coach Mac paused,  "Well, heck, I don't know, Babe Ruth, maybe."

Anyone who knows Coach Mac, knows that is him to a tee. Beautiful.

Coach Mac has stayed around the game long enough to see his son, "Clayton the Ram"
become a manager in the Toronto Blue Jays organization. I see pictures of Clayton now
and I see Coach Mac nearly 30 years ago coaching us in Chapel Hill. Awesome.

Coach Mac is awesome. He hit a grand slam by marrying his wife Eva, who was
liked by the North Carolina family as much as Coach Mac.

They are beautiful people and who make you thankful they crossed your path in life.

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A BRAVE NEW SPORTS WORLD

Records weren't broken, mega-million dollar deals weren't signed, and not one salacious
scandal broke out, but a three-day stretch in mid-August made a lot of us say, "Wow."

On Wednesday, Arizona State lineman Chip Sarafin announced that he is gay.

Thursday, WNBA stars Brittney Griner and Glory Johnson were engaged.

Friday, 13-year old Mo'ne Davis became a household name in the sports world by
authoring a dominating performance in the Little League World Series. Yes, a girl fires
a two-hit shut out against the boys on national television. 

Three days, three eye-opening stories. A man comes out, two women get engaged, and
a girl dazzles at the Little League World Series. Awesome, simply awesome.

Yes, it's a brave new sports world and no matter what side of the fence you are on when it
comes to homosexuality and gender equality, these four athletes made a major statement
And you know what? It's pretty damn cool and very, very brave.

Perhaps, Serafin felt free to announce his sexual orientation to the world after Michael
Sam blazed the trail when he became the first major college football player to come out
to the world last February.

I often think the media makes a helluva lot more about athletes coming out than the players
and teammates do. Sam told his teammates at Missouri last summer that he was gay and
the Tigers went on to have one of the best seasons in school history. No distractions, no
hostility, no ugly stories of teammates mocking or abusing Sam.

Was everybody on the Missouri Tigers comfortable playing with an openly gay player?
Probably not. But that's just the world we live in. People don't like others just because of
the way they look, where they come from, and how much money they make. Sad, but true.
Everybody doesn't love everybody, that's for sure.

There's no doubting the love Griner and Johnson have for each other. They are long-time
lesbians and opponents in the WNBA who got engaged  last Thursday. I realize not many
people, including myself, care much for the women's league, but this women's union is
a bold statement in society that doesn't always appreciate bold ones.

I know there are self-righteous people out there who oppose gays and gay marriage.
You know, the ones who all of a sudden act like they were at the Last Supper of Jesus
Christ who think know every verse of the Bible and their meanings. They say homosexuality
and gay marriage are sins. Yeah, so is stealing, killing, and coveting thy neighbors wife.
That doesn't happen in today's society, does it? Yeah, right.

Judge not, lest thy be judged.

Every one of us wants to live life the way WE want to live it, not how others want us to.
And really, does it matter to you if Serafin, Griner, and Johnson are gay? Do you think
it's affecting your job, your relationships, and your way of living? I think not.

Once those players cross the lines or step on the court, they are should be judged on their
athletic ability and performance. Nothing else. It just doesn't matter.

It certainly mattered though, when Mo'ne Davis stepped on the mound at the Little League
World Series and fired a two-hit shutout against the boys. She was on the national stage
and shined brightly. Now, there are young girls everywhere whose dreams are a little bigger
today than they were yesterday, thanks to Davis.

There is a saying, "He throws like a girl". I'm not sure we can say it like that anymore.
Now, it will be a compliment if a boy (or man) is told that he throws like Mo'ne
Davis and that's great.

Davis may not have broken a color barrier, but she is brave and certainly has opened a lot
of doors for young girls who have been told "it can't be done"

.
A female player won't make it to the major leagues in my lifetime, but it will happen.
Trust me. In 50 years, somewhere, somehow, a female will play in the big leagues with
the big boys.

And that will be a beautiful thing, just as this three-day stretch in mid-August was.

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TOM HANNY & THE WORLD'S BEST SELFIES

In the land of a billion selfies, Tom Hanny might just be the king of them. No, he doesn't take
selfies in a car at a stop light or in a parking lot or just because he has nothing better to do than
snap a mundane photo like the thousands of ones we see on Facebook every single day. (Yes,
the new haircut in your selfie looks really nice, by the way.)

Nope, Hanny takes the selfie to a whole different level. He dropped the kid's stuff a long, long
time ago and went for the spectacular and the ones you could only dream of posting on Twitter,
Facebook, Instgram, and texting to the hottest girl on the planet. His stuff is amazing.



 

Hanny's background, naturally, is in photography and video production. His resume includes

stops at Fox Sports Net, NFL.com, and the Arizona Cardinals where he was the executive
producer and director of broadcasting. As former NBA Tim Hardaway used to say,
"He's got skills". Hanny has a great eye, is meticulous, creative, and thinks outside the box.
Way, way, way outside the box.

 

Photography is his craft, but it's outdoor sports, and more specifically, those on the water, that
are hispassion. Stand-up paddleboard, wind-surfing, or just plain surfing, Hanny is at home
in the water. I've often told him that his home should be as the host of an adventure show on
one of those outdoor channels He just looks the part.



 

 

 



Hanny has been living in Seattle for sometime and certainly has taken advantage of what the
Emerald City and Great Northwest has to offer. His pictures are both stunning and just
flat-out cool. I've joked with him  the only reason I stay on Facebook is to see his pictures
and what is coming next.

Even his pictures with his bulldog are cool. Like most of us, Hanny is a dog-lover and borderline
obsessed. OK, I'll be honest. I sometimes think he's just a little more than obsessed with his
dog. But all his pictures on are amazing and memorable.





Hanny uses a Go-Pro camera for his selfies. Oh, sure, anybody can buy one at a camera
shop or purchase one on-line, but they don't know have a clue on how to use them. Hanny
is a master of it. I love action shots but there are very few people who can take them like
Hanny can, especially when he is the subject.

 

 

 



In the water, under the water, or with the water engulfing him, Hanny always seems to get that
"money shot", you know, the one that makes you look, stare, and wish that it was you that
everybody is looking at.

Awesome, simply awesome. How do you like your selfies now?





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AMERICA, DON'T 'SPIN' OUT DEPRESSION

Thanks to social media and 24-hour channels, the news cycle spins faster than ever
before. Today's events become yesterday's news in a blur and quickly forgotten in our
A.D.D world.  Very little shocks us anymore as the next scandal always seems to be a
just little worse than the last one.

This past week, many of us weren't shocked when a depressed man committed suicide,
after all, people take their own lives every single day. However, we were shaken when
it was Robin Williams who ended his life. How could a man who was so talented, creative,
respected, and  perhaps, most importantly, universally loved, kill himself? We all questioned
how a guy who made us laugh so much, could be depressed, knowing there were no good
answers.

There are never any answers when a suicide occurs. Sure, there could be words in a note,
but  they never really tell the whole story. The whole story will never be told in the case
of Robin Williams. The dime store psychologists can guess or come up with some
absurd  theory that gets them on a talk show or trending on Twitter, but nobody will
ever really know why Williams took his own life. Never.

The suicide of Williams hasn't been spit out of the news cycle just yet. The death of
a creative genius and comedic legend who made so many of us not only laugh out
loud, but think, isn't going to fade away quickly.

Weren't we all glued to Williams' character and words in "Good Will Hunting" and
"Dead Poets Society". It was all part of the glitz and glamour in the land of make-believe (Hollywood). Williams talked about life and death and made it all seem so very real.

Depression is real. The pain sears the soul and disrupts the mind. The discomfort is
so fierce no amount of money, fame, power, or alcohol can rinse it away. Unless you've
walked in the shoes of Williams or those of another depressed person, you will never
know how debilitating it is.

I sincerely hope the suicide of Williams has as much staying power as the Ice Bucket
Challenge that is burning up social media. I hope it sheds light on the dark world of
depression just as all those drenched characters in videos across the globes have helped
bring attention and dollar bills to ALS, which just may be the worst of all the diseases out
there.

I hope the world of depression gets discovered and uncovered like ALS has in the last
few months. I hope we all learn that depression comes in many forms and doesn't
discriminate. No matter how rich, powerful, and famous you are, depression can find
you and destroy your life.

Perhaps, it's the power of social media or just maybe it's the tough times in even a
tougher world that depression and suicide have become pretty common. The news tells
us of the 15-year old high school that takes her own life because she was teased vociferously
by her classmates.

There is the father of four who found the pressure of life so great, that he chose to end it,
rather than face and try to fight through it.

There was that alarming rash of suicides among former athletes like Junior Seau, Mike
Flanagan, Dave Duerson, and a bunch of hockey players that really shook us.

I hope we all can become more compassionate of those inflicted with the disease instead
of seeing them as "psychos" or "disturbed". I hope kids can learn that mocking and bullying
are just not worth the cheap laugh. They are the arrows that can poison a person's self-esteem
forever.

I hope that friends will be true friends and show compassion to someone who needs it.

I hope that people who are depressed or have some other form of mental illness can get
the help they need and not be embarrassed about it. I hope they find the trust in not only
professionals but friends who can help  lift the blanket of darkness that envelops them.

Do not condemn or judge the depressed man. Help them. Comfort them. Be a friend to
them.

It could save their life.

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SPECIAL THANKS TO MY 'IRON' FAMILY

Behind every Ironman is a great support team, one that pushes, drives, and encourages an
athlete to achieve his goal of completing a grueling 140.6 mile test of endurance.

I couldn't have asked for a better one than my family, whom I got to share a very special
experience with on July 27, 2014. They were a huge part of my journey and a big reason why
I crossed the finish line in the iconic Lake Placid Ironman.

The two biggest cogs in the Team Devlin machine, were my sister, Kara, and my mother, who
have seemingly morphed into the same type of person over the years: thoughtful, unselfish, and incredibly generous.

During the last six months of training, I often felt Kara, who was a driven and an intense elite
swimmer, was more excited about the race than I was. She was always encouraging and
motivating me with inspirational stories of athletes who overcame great obstacles to finish an Ironman.

It seemed like every day I'd open up my e-mail to articles, pictures, and quotes from famous
athletes that would fire me up for the  big race. This was something my father used to do
when I was growing up and I guess Kara picked up the torch after his passing six years ago.

Kara also set me up with an energy and nutritional plan that helped me tremendously during
the race. I didn't drink alcohol in the 18 months leading up to the event and I have always been
pretty good about my diet (when I'm training), but her plan got me focused me on what I needed
to do for an endurance event and that was get leaner.

To be honest, I wasn't keen on doing a nutritional plan with a million and one supplements. I
wasn't looking to win the event, just finish. She pestered me so many times to get on the program,
I finally relented just so she would leave me alone. 

I got on the program which helped tremendously. I did drop some weight and my energy was
strong throughout the race. Thank you, Kara.

Mom, as always, was there, too. About a month before the race, she purchased a 3-day Ironman
camp in Lake Placid for me to attend. And again, I wasn't tremendously fired up for the race at
the time, I was just consumed with the training to get there,and mom, like Kara, became a huge
cheerleader. Mom felt if I learned "just one thing" from the camp, it'd be worth it.

So, of course, the day before I was going to leave for Lake Placid and the camp, mom slipped
and fell in New York City, fracturing a bone in her shoulder in the process.  I couldn't leave now,
but she said, "Get the heck out of here, I'll be OK." I did miss the first day of camp to care for
her, but my brother, Patrick stepped in to help out.

My sister's husband, Chad, also helped out tremendously in my training for the Ironman. He
treats Kara like gold and the rest of our family just the same. About three years ago, Chad bought
a summer home about 25 minutes outside of Lake Placid and he always said, "Whenever you
want to come up to train, feel free to stay here."

A lot of people say things like that, but as soon as you ask to come up, they respond, "Oh, that's
a bad weekend. The house is jammed-pack. Not a good idea."

Not Chad. He always opened the door and rolled out the red carpet for me no matter
the time, day, week, or month. He never said no. Truly awesome.

My niece, Sophie, and nephews Patrick and Christian also showed up to support me, which
put the cherry on top of a beautiful day. The Ironman event is amazing in and of itself, but
it can be a long, long day where supporters only get to see their family members who are
competing for a few brief moments until it is all over.

However, there was nothing better than crossing the finish line of a race that covered 140.6
miles and lasted just over 12 hours and seeing Team Devlin with huge smiles on their faces.
It was a spine-tingling moment.

This event is truly about the journey and not the destination. It's about the blood, sweat, tears,
and dedication to achieve. It was also a total team effort by Team Devlin.

To celebrate the Ironman with my family, the one who supported me every step of the way
was truly special and something I will never forget.

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PAUL DEVLIN: AN IRONMAN AT 50

Lake Placid,  NY. July 27, 2014. First Ironman: 12:12:36 

2.4  mile swim    1:02
112 mile bike      6:30
26.2 mile run      4:23

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